Vanilla
by MissImaginationcull3n
Summary: "Edward Masen wasn't safe. He was everything I had tried to avoid. He was going to hold me down when I wanted so desperately to fly. I didn't know if I had enough will-power to fight against THIS or if I even wanted to." A tale about falling in love with the right person at the wrong time. About growing up and letting go of the past. About moving on…
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** **I don't own Twilight or any of the characters.**

 **Chapter 1**

I couldn't see…

I couldn't breathe…

I couldn't speak…

I couldn't see…

It was so dark in there, even though I could feel a burning sensation on my skin like the sun was roasting it. Maybe it was too bright; I hoped my eyes would adjust soon.

I couldn't breathe…

I could feel oxygen filling my lungs, but the feeling was different. I thought I was suffocating…slowly but not painfully. I have been numb for so long now.

I couldn't speak…

I was moving my lips, shouting, but no sound comes out.

I couldn't even hear my voice in my head. My mind was too crowded.

Anybody! Help, HELP! Get me out of here!

"Bella,"

I could hear a voice, a distant far away voice, a familiar one, and I knew that I was saved, at least for now.

"Bella, sweetheart, wake up," Mom said "You are going to be late for school."

Slowly I opened my eyes. Mom was sitting at the edge of my bed, smiling cheerfully at me.

"Ohh Mom." I groaned and covered my head with the quilt." It's too early to be smiling like this."

"Wake up, sleepy head." she nudged my legs lightly. "And why shouldn't I be smiling? It's your first day as a senior in high school."

"Exactly!" I raised my head from under the quilt. Mom's eyes were shining with tears, and she was looking at me fondly.

"Oh, Mom," I got up so that I could hug her.

"My little girl is all grown-up, now," she said as she hugged me back.

I stayed in her arms for what felt like hours, but it was actually mere seconds. She then pushed me away to look at me and wiped her eyes. "Come on, you better get up and start getting ready. Alice called and said that she was coming to pick you."

I picked my toiletries and started heading to the bathroom, but then I remembered something.

"Is Dad off to work?" I asked

"Yeah..." her tone said it all. They had been fighting before he left. They were always fighting…

"Everything's okay?"

"Of course," She tried to sound cheerful but failed miserably." Nothing you need to worry about, just the usual."

The usual…

I stood staring at her for a second. She looked tired, older. Even though Mom was only thirty-six, she sometimes looked like she was so much older. Maybe it has something to do with having an eighteen year old daughter, or a troubled marriage, or the fact that her sisters had abandoned her after Grandma's death.

She stood suddenly from the bed and started pushing me toward the bathroom.

"Hurry up, you are wasting precious time." Mom said as she closed the bathroom door and went downstairs, probably to make breakfast for Alice and me.

I put my toiletries on the sink. When I raised my eyes, my reflection glared right at me.

I was a senior now!

Finally! The very last year that I am going to have to endure this.

Everyone said that they feel different on their senior year of high school, but I don't think I felt any difference. I looked the same, maybe thinner, but the same; the same boring limp hair, the same normal brown eyes, and the same deathly pale skin. I wished that I could say that I was different from the inside, but, truthfully, I wasn't. Maybe that was the effect of living in Forks. Feeling different or change, in general, was hard in a place like this. I was still Bella Swan, the police chief's daughter. I was still a little nerdy. I was still shy and uncomfortable around people (even though I tried so hard to hide that). And I was certainly still single.

"Bella, Alice is here," Mom shouted from downstairs, efficiently cutting my train of thought.

I quickly went through my morning routine. I pulled my hair up in a messy bun and left the bathroom.

"Please tell me that you aren't going to school like this," Alice said as soon as she saw me.

"Good morning to you, too, Alice," I said as I sat across her at the kitchen table.

"Isabella Marie Swan, answer me." she glared at me

"You didn't even ask a question,"

"Garr, don't be a smart-ass right now," she said, frustrated. "You know what I mean,"

"It's just a sweater, Alice." I rolled my eyes

"Exactly, that's what I was referring to," she said while glaring at the poor sweater in disgust. "You should have worn the blue blouse we bought together last time we went shopping,"

"I don't remember the last time we went shopping. You know me. My brain tends to delete painful memories." I teased her.

"Shopping is not a painful memory. It is fun," she said as she punched my arm playfully.

"Ouch!" I rubbed my arm while I laughed at her petulant pout.

"stop fighting, girls," mom said as she was putting in front of us," and start eating or you will be late."

Alice started devouring her plate as soon as mom set it in front of her. For someone so small she ate like a whale.

"Shanksh, Mishsh Shawn," she said with a mouthful

"You are welcome, sweetie."

"Sometimes I feel like you are only my friend because you want to eat the food mom cooks," I teased her while shaking my head at how quickly she ate.

She swallowed and then answered "Duh."

I couldn't blame Alice for that. Her mom couldn't cook even if her life depended on it. We both laughed at our silliness.

"Are you finished?" I said after a few minutes (I have probably said those words more than 10 times now)

"God, yes, you are so annoying," she said after she took a sip from her orange juice. "Why can't you just let me enjoy me food for once?"

"What food are you exactly talking about?!" I asked incredulously. "Eggs and bacon! You eat almost them every day."

Even though Alice was so small and tiny, she ate a lot (and I do mean A LOT). She was a fast eater, but a slow chewer (did that even make sense?!).

"Come on, let's go," she said and then turned toward my mother. "Thanks again for breakfast, Mrs. Swan."

"It's nothing, Honey."

The sight of Alice's yellow canary porche greeted us as soon as we got out of my house.

"I really don't know what you were thinking when you picked that color," I said shaking my head.

"Shut up, it's a beautiful color," she said." You just can't see that because you don't have the eyes of an artist like me."

"Neither does the rest of the world, believe me. And I sincerely thank God for that." I muttered.

"At least it's better than that century old truck!" she scoffed

"Hey, don't hate on The Truck. It's an original vehicle and a loyal friend," I said as I opened the passenger door of her car and got in.

"Whatever." She replied while buckling her seatbelt.

We didn't take a long time to arrive to school since Alice drove like she was racing. Alice was actually enthusiastic to arrive to school, but I was the complete opposite. I dreaded going to school especially the first day of every year. That was always the thing with Alice and me; we completed each other. I always thought that a best friend is the person that truly completes you, not a lover. We all have that one person who we rely on and we are never afraid that she or he is going to abandon us; because it wasn't working or the spark was gone or they just got bored…etc. Alice was that person for me.

"Come on, Bells, time to get out," she encouraged softly knowing that I hate this situation.

"I hate this." I groaned and banged my head backward on the head rest.

"Come on, it's not so bad," she said soothingly. "I got your back."

And I know that she did. I took a deep breath. In…out.

"Let's get this over with." As soon as I opened the cool air hit my body. Hundreds of familiar faces greeted my eyes. It's hard to find new people at a small town like this. Everybody knew everybody, literally

"Hey, let's go look for Angela and Rose," she said. She was already searching for them with her eyes.

"They are probably waiting by Angela's van,"

I roamed the parking lot with my eyes looking for a black minivan.

"Here they are," I said as I waved back to Rose.

Unfortunately the car parked next to Angela's minivan was none other than the silver Volvo of a certain disgusting creature, aka Edward Masen.

He was standing in the middle of a group of girls, and next to him was his best friend Emmett McCarthy. Emmet was a decent guy and fun to be around. He sat next to me in Spanish, and he had most of his classes with Rose, which is why she has this huge crush on him. It must be so painful for her to watch him surrounded by those girls even though he wasn't paying attention to them. They were mostly there for Edward.

When Emmett noticed us, he waved and made his way over to me and Alice.

"Hi, girls." he grinned at us, showing his cute dimples." How are you?"

"We are fine," Alice answered and we stopped when we reached Angela's minivan.

"Good morning, Rose." he grinned at her." How are you?"

"Fine," she said softly and blushed.

"How was your summer?"

"It was good," her face almost resembled a tomato now and she answered him in such a voice, it was almost a whisper. I was surprised that he could hear her.

"That's great," he said

He kept staring at her for a few minutes. God, it was getting so awkward in here.

"Emmett!" I heard a male voice shout, probably Edward.

"I gotta go. See ya later." He winked at Rose.

"Oh My God, what did just happen?!" Alice exclaimed

"Nothing, he was probably doing this to make me blush," Rose said and she was still blushing

"Really! Cause it didn't look like that to me," Angela said," he didn't even say hi to me and just kept talking to you."

"It doesn't mean anything!" she said, "He's being nice. Emmett is always nice. And charming. And cute."

"Ok, stop. You are making us all uncomfortable here." We laughed as she blushed.

"I didn't realize I was gushing," she defended herself

I was going to say something, when we suddenly heard a booming laugh combined with a sultry squeal or a laugh (you really wouldn't be able to tell)

We turned to look at the source of the sound and we saw the following; Emmett was laughing at something Edward had said and the group of girls around them were giggling, one of the girls-Tanya Denali- was leaning against Emmett's shoulder as she laughed, his arm was around her waist to steady her.

"See, I told you. He's nice to everybody," she said. She looked heartbroken and sad.

" Oh, Rose," I hugged her," you are so much prettier and smarter and fun to be around than this plastic thing."

Rose was really so much more beautiful than any girl in Forks High, but she had really low self-esteem. Those low self-esteem issues probably came from the years she spent after her parents' divorce with her mother and her much younger boyfriend, Royce. She doesn't like to talk about these days and always gives us the same answer when we asked her. 'He was just a jerk to me.' And she would start to get tearful so we would change the subject.

"She's right," Angela and Alice said agreeing to what I said to her.

We stood there for a few seconds, until Rose said in her normal much less sad voice, " come on, girls, let's go or we are going to be late to class."

"That's the Rose I love and know," Alice said while clapping her tiny hands together." Let's get this show on the road."

"I will just pretend I didn't hear that," I said as I hurried in front of her.

"what?!" she exclaimed." That was a great line, wasn't it, Rose, Angela?"

"Actually, I agree with Bella," Angela said.

"Me, too," Rose said as she laughed with us.

I turned around to look at her fully. I was about to tease her more, when I bumped into something warm and hard.

"Sorry," I murmured while blushing

"It's okay." I knew that voice. It was the perfect combination of rough and soft, like music. And that person smelled like smoke- cigarettes smoke- and musk and a delicious cinnamon like perfume. No, this just can't be true. This must be a nightmare. I couldn't have bumped into Edward Masen, of all the people I could bump into. I could feel dirty and violated already.

I pushed away from him quickly and started walking away as fast as I could without looking that I actually was running.

"Hey, slow down, Bella," Alice called after me.

I was already at my locker. The damn thing refused to be opened even as I banged and tried to pull it open with all my might.

"Whoa, calm down, Bells," Angela said as she approached me carefully.

"I just…just…" I said; I didn't know if I was frustrated or embarrassed or just flat out angry.

I was angry at myself for not paying attention. I was angry at my clumsy nature. And I was furious at the universe for allowing Edward Masen to exist.

"I don't understand the reason you hate him so much!" Alice exclaimed

"I don't hate him," I clarified," I loathe him."

"But why?" she said "he is always polite with us and never once try to overstep his boundaries."

"'Cause…" I stopped for a second to take a deep breath to calm myself," 'Cause he represents every bad and horrible things in a human being. He deceives girls and discards them after he gets what he wants. He thinks he owns them. Ughh, I. Hate. Him."

"He's not that bad," Angela said carefully probably knowing my reaction to her next words, "most of the girls that he _hangs out with_ already know his intentions,"

"That is not an excuse for his behavior and you know it," I said pointedly

"He wasn't always like this," Rose said in a soft voice seeping with compassion and sympathy, "She Who We Don't Say Her Name did this to him. He was broken,"

"I know that," I said my voice losing the aggressive edge that it had a few moments ago.

And I did know and understand what he went through. Everybody in Forks High knew; because there was a huge difference between Edward Masen Before & After. Edward Masen was the grandson of Elizabeth Masen. Elizabeth Masen was possibly the most kind and compassionate person on earth or at least Forks. When she was young, she used to teach at Forks kindergarten for free. She always organized parties for every occasion in the year and invited everybody to them. Everybody loved her.

His sister Esme had just graduated from medical school just before what happen and moved back to Forks so she could work in Forks local hospital. She is now engaged to the surgeon of the hospital Dr. Carlisle Cullen.

His father was Edward Sr. Masen, but nobody knew anything his mother. Some people said that his father married a woman against his grandfather's well, so his grandfather disowned him. Some said that he didn't want to live in the small town anymore and that he sent his kids to live with his parents because he and his wife were busy working.

But the only absolute fact that we were all sure of: is that the Masens never answered anybody when they asked about them, even their grandmother. It was the most mysterious thing in Forks at the time, still is, but people just stop asking.

He was a straight A student and every one said that he had a very bright future ahead of him. Almost most of the girls in Forks had a crush on him. But he never showed any interest in them and always tried to stay polite and a complete gentleman with them.

Even though I didn't have a crush on him, but I respected his intelligence and personality. At the time I was extremely shy to even approach him and talk to him as a friend or as a fellow student since we almost had every class together.

Then everything changed She arrived and everything turned upside down. She was-

The sound of the bell ringing startled me back to reality.

I was surprised to find myself next to Rose at our English classroom.

"How did I come here?" I asked surprised

"You kinda zoned out, so I had to drag you so we wouldn't be late," Rose whispered back. "You know how Mr. Mason gets when we are late."

"Yeah…" I said my mind drifting again to where it was previously before it was interrupted by the ringing of the bell.

"Miss Swan!" Mr. Mason said, almost shouted.

"Yes, sir?!" I answered shocked by his outburst.

"Please pay attention to the lecture," he ordered and that made me blush.

I nodded slightly while blushing. I tried to pay attention and shoved anything else to the corner of my mind.

 **Author's note:** **so what do you think? What do you expect will happen next? Please review and tell me your initial opinion to the story and what do you want to happen next and what do you think is going to really happen?**

 **The person who is going to guess it write will get a preview from the next chapter ;)**

 **Hope you enjoyed reading it.  
**

 **Thanks a lot to my wonderful Beta HogwartsDreamer113 :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. SM does, lucky her ;)**

 **Chapter two**

"That was one long, long day." I sighed. "I can't believe it's finally over."

"I couldn't agree more with you," Alice said as we neared her car.

I was both physically and mentally exhausted. It was really a very long day and full of surprising events which was really strange because the first day was usually very uneventful and downright boring.

"What do you think about going to my place and ordering pizza for lunch?" Alice suggested

"Hmm, it's okay, I guess," I replied. "I will call Mom from your place to tell her."

The rest of the ride to her place was silent which was fine with me. I needed to clear my head so that I could process everything that had happened today.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked. She tried to sound nonchalant, but her tone showed her concern.

"Fine, I am just… I guess I feel a little overwhelmed," I said turning my head to look at her. She was frowning which meant that she was trying to concentrate on driving, but her mind was processing other things.

Alice's house was deep in the forest. Her mom had chosen that house specifically because of the view. Alice's mom was an artist; she drew and painted paintings, and she was also a very popular photographer which specialized in capturing landscapes. She had a famous gallery in Seattle. Alice's father was an architect. I guess all these artistic genes were the reason of Alice's love for art and fashion. The Brandon family was extremely wealthy.

When we arrived in Alice's house driveway, we saw that her mother's car was there.

"I thought you told me earlier that your mom was going to Seattle today to meet some sponsors," I said. "Do you think she forgot to go like last time?"

"Ohh, shoot! I really hope not, "She said as she ran to the front door, shouting her mother's name.

"In here, honey," I heard Mrs. Brandon shout back in response to Alice from the guest room next to the kitchen.

The sight that greeted us when we reached the door of the guest room was…surprising. It looked like a rainbow threw up in here and on Alice's mom. Alice and I stood gaping at the sight.

"What happened in here?" Alice asked, her shock still apparent, but unlike me she was able to regain the ability of forming a sentence. I guess she had a stronger immune system to this kind of situations more than me.

"I am working on a new painting, honey. What does it look like I am doing?" she answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, Mom, I see." She rolled her eyes. "but what I am trying to ask is why are you working in the guest room instead of your studio?"

"I didn't feel inspired, you know," she said tapping her temple with her colorful finger. "Besides that, the theme of my new painting is 'The unexpected', so I thought that 'what's more unexpected than painting in your guest room, ha?'"

I cracked a smile at her logic. I guess we know now where Alice got her scattered and bubbly personality. Alice just shook her head and tugged my arm to go to her room upstairs.

"You forgot to ask her about the meeting." I reminded her, gently removing my arm from her grasp.

"Oh, right," she said as she flew down the stairs to the guest room.

"Mom, weren't you supposed to have a meeting today with your new sponsors?" I heard her ask.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, didn't I?" I heard Mrs. Brandon replay sheepishly. "They rescheduled it to the next month, honey."

"Okay, Mom, I was just worried you forgot like last time." Alice sighed with relief, probably thankful she wouldn't have to relive what happed last time. Her mother was a wreck. She kept blaming herself for forgetting everything, and she said that she was a failure as an artist and that she should focus more on being a mother. By the end of that phase, Alice and her father had already lost a few pound and barely avoided getting food poising.

"Don't worry, sweetie, I got everything under control."

"Sure, Mom," she said. She was climbing up the stairs again. "Hey, Mom, Bella and I are going to order pizza, okay?"

"That's fine, honey." It sounded that she was back to her work as her tone was distracted.

Alice and I went to her room. I started to get the notebooks out of my backpack while Alice ordered the pizza for us.

"All done, we just have to wait," She said as she hopped on her bed next to me." Wanna talk about what happened today?"

"God, I really can't believe he had the nerves to do that," I said, finally showing my frustration.

"I think he's brave. I admire that in him." She shrugged casually.

"Well, I think he's a jerk," I said mirroring her causal tone.

What Alice was talking about was what happened today at biology class. The events just keep replaying themselves in my head.

 _I was walking with Angela after lunch to our biology class. She sat next to her partner, Ben Cheney. Ben was a bit of the typical nerd, but he was very nice and sweet and also incredibly shy. You could tell that they both liked each other but they were both painfully shy and was waiting for the other person to make a move. I always told Angela that I would do a cartwheel when she and Ben got together and that was saying something considering my clumsy nature._

 _There was an empty lab table at the back, so I started heading toward it. I ignored Mike Newton's offer to sit next to him and simply passed him without a glance. That boy never took the hint that I wasn't interested and I will probably never be._

 _Mr. Banner arrived to class late, so it took him a few moments to get the class in order._

 _"Mr. Masen, you are late."_

 _"Sorry, Mr. Banner, Natasha and I got lost." I looked up to see him smirking at the girl that was giggling and winked at her, which increased her giggling. I rolled my eyes, could they really be more obvious?!_

 _"Umm… well, that's okay, I guess. Please take your seats, we were about to start."_

 _I averted my gaze after that not really interested in seeing him caressing the girl's backside as they went to take their seats. I could still hear her giggling. I inwardly rolled my eyes, again._

 _I was concentrating in reading something in our textbook, when I heard the seat next to me scrapping the floor. I really hoped that it wasn't Newton, because I don't think that I could hold back my temper while sitting next to him for an entire class. I looked up, ready to give him the best bitch glare, but I found out that the person next to me was certainly not Mike Newton. My mind went numb from shock because of the sight of the person sitting next to me; Edward Masen sat next to me and he looked so comfortable in his chair like he was used to sitting there._

 _"Hi," he whispered while smirking at my shocked expression. I quickly tried to compose myself and tried to reassure myself that I was not going to make a fool of myself in front of that cocky bastard._

 _"Why are you sitting here?" I asked sharply, ignoring his greeting._

 _"I wanted to apologize for what happened this morning," he whispered. I could literally smell his breath. It smelt like chocolate and mint. I was ashamed to admit that his breath combined with his body odor made me slightly lightheaded._

 _"There is no need to apologize," I said shortly trying to avoid any type of conversation with him._

 _"But I think you are still upset, so I am offering to make it up to you," he whispered and scooted a little closer to me. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at me when I looked at him. I was about to turn to him properly and give him a piece of my mind, but Mr. Banner shouted our names and ordered us to pay attention and stop whispering. I blushed furiously as every head in the class turned toward us._

 _The class passed slowly in a painful way. My mind couldn't register that Edward Masen was sitting next to me and that he had the guts to make such an offer to ME. Who does he think I am? One of the sluts that begged for his attention!?Hell, no!_

 _The class really couldn't be finished fast enough for me, I was seething and I needed to get away from the disgusting creature sitting next to me. I could feel his body heat radiating to me which helped in increasing my anger. I felt like he was invading my personal space._

 _As soon as the bell rang, I grabbed my text books and bolted out of the classroom. I didn't even wait for Angela as usual. All I wanted was to put as much space as I could between me and Masen._

 _I stood in front of my locker panting from my almost run. I felt a hand on my shoulder._

 _Oh, no! He didn't. I quickly jerked my head, my mouth already forming the insulting words that I desired so much to say to him._

 _"Are you alright? Did something happen?" I heard Rose's voice before I saw her face. Her voice was the only thing that pulled me from the haze of anger that surrounded me._

 _"Huh...f-fine," I answered still feeling disoriented and a bit angry._

 _"You sure?" she asked again concern lacing her words. For some unknown reason her words angered me, they made me remember why I was in this state._

 _"I said I am fine," I snapped at her sharply, I instantly filled guilty when she took a step back and hurt appeared on her face. I took a deep breath to calm myself_

 _" Look, Rose, I am sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like this, you did nothing wrong," I apologized._

 _"It's fine," she said quietly." Just know that I am there if you wanted to talk about whatever that was or is bothering you."_

 _Her offer spiked my guilt even more. The best and also the worst thing about Rose is that she is so forgiving, but sometimes she pushes herself too much to just forgive someone even if that person hurt her badly. I was about to tell her what happened when I felt someone clamp a hand over my mouth silencing me._

 _"Shh, don't start talking now," Alice said. "Let's all go to gym and you can tell us on the way there."_

 _And as we made our way to Gym class, I told them everything that happened in biology. They all bared the same shocked and disgusted expressions on their faces as I proceeded in telling them what happened._

 _"I don't even have anything to say in response to that!" Angela shook her head. "I was already shocked when I looked back and saw that he went to sit next to you. I imagined you must be feeling really uncomfortable."_

 _"Understatement of the year!"I exclaimed._

 _"Wow," was all that came out of Alice's mouth." I have a really weird feeling about this."_

 _"Good weird or bad weird?" I asked. Me and the rest of the group had learned to take Alice's feelings seriously. We all had an experience or two with them and the almost always turned right._

 _"This gonna sound strange, but actually it's a good feeling," she was frowning thoughtfully as she said that._

 _"Do you mean that I should accept his offer?!" I cried incredulously. Rose and Angela were gaping at Alice, too._

 _"Of course not," she retorted quickly. "I don't know what I mean. I just have a feeling, that's all."_

 _Our discussion was put to an end when we arrived at Gym class._

"Honey, the pizza guy is here!" Mrs. Brandon cried from downstairs interrupting my flashback of today's events.

"One sec," Alice said as she got up from her sitting position to get the pizza from downstairs. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Coke would be fine."

I didn't wait long for Alice as I saw her coming up the stairs trying to balance the pizza boxes and the cokes with one hand while she did something in her phone with the other.

"What are you doing?" I got up to help her.

"I am texting Rose back. She says that she is coming with Angela. Good thing I bought extra pizza," She said absently.

"Did you 'feel' it?" I teased while I gave her a gentle shove with my elbow.

"Ha ha. When did you become so funny, Swan?" she said her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Say what you want but you can't deny that my feeling always come true. Or did you forget what had happened our freshman year?"

"How could I?" I said. I was silent for a minute."Why does everything we talk about have to be linked with _him_?"

"It's not directly about him. That person affected us, too." She said. "But no matter what had happened, we can't deny that it brought us together."

"Sometimes when I think about that I feel sorry for him."

"You should. No matter what he is now, he didn't deserve what had happened to him. It was way too cruel."

And she was right what happened to Edward Masen our freshman year was way too cruel.

Jane Volturi was new to our sweet little town, Forks. Her family moved to Forks at the end of the summer that year from Alaska. Her father was a surgeon. His presence was welcome at the local hospital, because he gave an extra hand to Dr. Carlisle who was the only surgeon at the hospital back then.

Jane was a petite short girl. She had wide hazel eyes that made her look so innocent and fragile. Her blonde hair served to give her an angelic and childlike halo. She was the centre of attention for a long time, especially after she caught the attention of Forks high school heartthrob, Edward Masen. She rejected all the boys' advances, even Edward's, but she never gave a reason. Some people thought that she had a boyfriend back in Alaska.

She became very close to Angela, Rose and me. Alice wasn't part of our group back then, but she was Jane's friend. When Jane hanged out with us, Alice tagged along, too. Alice and I immediately clicked. She just got me.

Even though she was Jane friend first, she always seemed tense when Jane was near. When I asked her about it, she avoided answering at first, but when we became closer, she told me and that was the first time that a knew about her _feelings._

"Can you keep a secret?" she whispered even though there was no one near us.

"Of course," I said seriously. Her tone and body language spiked my curiosity.

"Ever since I was a small child, I have had these strange feelings that warned me that something is going to happen or that I should be cautious from that person. Sometimes I can differentiate if that feeling is good or bad, sometimes I can't."

I stared at her for a minute trying to figure out if she was crazy. I didn't find any sign of madness; instead I found sincerity itched into her expression which made me believe her.

"What does that have to do with Jane?" I asked.

"I have a feeling about her, but it is one of these times that I can't decide if it is good or bad."

As the days progressed, everyone had nothing to talk about except Edward's obsession with Jane. When he got tired of asking her out and her rejection, he asked her if they could be just friends. He came to hang out at our table at lunch just to be with her. He listened to her trivial chatter like it was the most important speech in the world. It was so endearing, it made us all wish we had that.

The first semester passed like that and it was time for Christmas break. Jane and her family went to Alaska to spend Christmas with their relatives there. The events started when Jane came back from Alaska and we started school again.

Edward was waiting for her with us, since he knew she hanged with us most. My friendship with Edward was pretty shallow, but I didn't have any ill feelings toward him back then. As soon as Jane's car arrived, we all saw the change in his demeanor; his eyes lit up and a crooked smile invaded his face. There was no denying how handsome he had looked that moment.

Jane bolted out of her car after she parked it. She came running to us or at least in our direction, then she did something that surprised us all. She kissed Edward and hugged him tightly to her small frame.

"I am tired of pretending." I heard her say to him from my close proximity to them.

Happiness shone brightly on Edward's face. He hugged her lightly. They didn't seem to care about the increasing attention that they were getting. It was as if they were held captive in their own bubble.

Their blossoming relationship was the main topic of our school gossip for the first month. I was truly happy for them, but Alice seemed increasingly tense those days.

After they started dating for roughly two months, changes started to occur. They were subtle, but I noticed them. Edward didn't look blissfully happy anymore; in fact he seemed a little depressed. Though Jane didn't look any different, she seemed oblivious to the change in Edward or she just chose to ignore it.

Our relationship with Jane became tense, too. She seemed too aggressive, and when we tried to ask her about it, she snapped at us and said we were just jealous of her relationship with Edward.

After that I was surprised that Alice started to ignore me, but kept talking to the rest of them normally, even Jane. She kept avoiding me and I didn't have a chance to ask her about it.

Things just kept going downhill from there. Edward was absent from school for two weeks and when he came back, he looked angry and avoided everyone, even his best friend Emmett. Then Emmett came one day to us when Jane was with us and told her 'to go to hell where lying and deceiving bitches lived'. His words not mine.

Then it all came to a stop when suddenly Jane along with her family disappeared. Strangely no one talked about their sudden disappearance; it was as if people were relieved that they left. Especially since Elizabeth Masen never seemed too friendly with them which was strange since her favorite grandson had dated their only daughter.

The last thing I remember of that tiring year is the big fight that happened between Alice and me.

I have had enough of her ignoring me and decide to corner her after school and confront her. I waited by her car as I got out early. She was shocked to see me there, but then the shock was replaced by the same cold distant glare that she has been giving me for a while now.

"We need to talk," I said determinedly.

"Move. There is nothing between us to talk about," She said calmly, too calmly.

"Yes, there is. Can you tell me why are you ignoring me, please?" I said persistently.

"You honestly don't know?!" she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Yes, I don't. You are being completely irrational about this."

"Irrational!" she cried her eyes wide and glaring at me angrily. "I trusted you."

"And I don't think I did anything to betray that trust."

"Oh, really! Fine then, if you think so." She grabbed the handle of her car door, but I grabbed her hand to stop her.

"We are not finished here!"

"Yes, we are." She shoved my hand, but I tightened my grip on her hand farther to prevent her from leaving until we finished our 'discussion'.

"Just please, tell me what I did 'cause I honestly don't know."

"I thought I could trust you to keep my secret when I told you, but I was wrong. How could you make fun of me?!"

"What are you talking about?!" I asked her not knowing what she was talking about.

"Did it make you feel good to befriend me just for pity? Because no one wanted to be friends with the freak pixie, ha?" she continued her eyes began to brim with angry tears.

I was so shocked from her words that I couldn't prevent her from leaving this time. I didn't understand anything from her. Her words only served to increase my confusion. But I determined to gain back Alice's friendship and clear any misunderstanding she had.

I asked Angela and Rose about that subject, but they didn't seem to know anything.

It was two days after our first fight that we finally talked again and everything was cleared between us.

I intended to talk to her after school like last time, but I was surprised to see her approaching me before I was going to the cafeteria and asking me to go with her to the parking lot to talk.

"I was going to talk to you today, but you approached me first." I started saying after a few moments of awkward silence.

"Did you or did you not say that you are only friends with me for pity and that no one dared to be friends with me because I got a few screws missing from my brain?" she said while looking directly into my eyes.

"I did not," I said sincerely.

"Ok, then," She smiled at me warmly.

"That's it?!" I exclaimed

"Yes, I was just so angry those past days that I couldn't think rationally," She replied.

"Who told you that anyway?" I asked still shocked at her reaction.

"Jane." She rolled her eyes." I shouldn't have believed her, but I did and I am so sorry for that. Can you please forgive me?"

"You are forgiven." I smiled warmly at her, happy that we are back to resuming our friendship.

Jane was the cause of Alice and mine friendship, and of course the drastic change in Edward. No one knew what she did to him, but we surly knew that it affected him greatly.

"At least she did one good thing in her life," Alice said as She hugged me." she brought us together and her attempt to break us didn't even succeed. "

I laughed as I hugged her back, nodding my head in agreement to her statement.

"I never knew why you were so calm that day? You were pretty angry before and suddenly you forgave me like this! It gave me quite a shock," I mused

"I just 'felt' that you were innocent. I was angry at first; because the things that I thought you said were actually said by some of my friends from the past. I was shocked that you would do the same, even though I didn't have any bad 'feeling' toward you," she said, a sad look crossing her face.

"The people who said these things are idiots. It's their loss actually," I said in a determined and soothing voice.

"I know that," she said cheerfully."I should have expected that Jane was lying, but I was too absorbed in my self-pity, so I couldn't think rationally."

"That's okay. We all have our moments,"

We heard the sound a car parking outside which meant that Angela and Rose have probably arrived.

There was a knock at the door after a few seconds that confirmed their arrival. Alice got up to open for them, but her mom beat her to it.

"Hello, girls, Alice and Bella are waiting for you upstairs in her room," we heard Mrs. Brandon greeting them.

"Thank you, Mrs. Brandon." We heard them say in union.

The sound of their footsteps neared us as they got up the stairs. Angela appeared first at the doorway of Alice's room. She looked like she was about to burst.

"You guys wouldn't believe what happened after you both left," She and Rose said in union.

* * *

 **Author's note:** **first, I would like to thank my wonderful beta, HogwartsDreamer113. You are amazing!**

 **And thank you SunflowerFran for your helpful suggestion.**

 **Sooooooo, what do you think so far? Are some of you curious about the title? Did you try to guess why? And what do you think happened?**

 **Please share your thoughts with me. Review and tell me what you would like to happen next.**


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